Blood Mother. A Vampire Tale

Ch. 7: Hoyt

Hoyt drove the rest of the route in silence. He needed some time to think through his options. He had no problem putting his life on the line, nothing to lose and all that bullshit. But putting a girl in the line of fire, that was another story entirely. And to top it off, Jared Montross, Tessa's father was a sure fire pain in the ass.

He wouldn't have hesitated to let me die on my first case. In fact, he rather expected I would. Territorial bastard. Now I'll be responsible for the welfare of his kid? He's the reason I got sucked into VCU in the first place, against my will. I owe him, sure. Validation to my instinct of knowing the vampires existed, training and instruction on how to win the battle. But this is way over the line.

"Are you so pissed your never going to speak to me again or what?" Tessa's voice broke through his inner argument.

He answered gruffly "I need a moment, is that ok?"

"Sure, I've been there. Feeling the fear of believing or wondering if your being played. We both know there's no joke here though. Five dead kids, there's no punchline. And time is not on our side."

Tessa sat beside him and closed her eyes. Hoyt knew she was giving him time to process. Her father had obviously taught her the same tactics. He should have told her to run the other way.  What kind of father knew the truth about how deadly vampires could be and let his kid want to hunt them down for a living?  Jared. Hoyt remembered his obsessed mentor. Nothing was more important to him than learning the ways of the vampire, and trying to keep them from becoming the top of the evolutionary chain. Not even his child apparently.

Hoyt decided he had enough. If she was telling the truth, she'd be an asset. Providing her tales of training and knowledge were accurate. If she were lying, the VCU would revoke him. Either way he was annoyed with the games.

"Ok, I'll give you a trial Tessa Montross. We start tonight. Meet me at Ginny's on 5th. You know the place?"

"Oh yeah". She practically squealed. "I know the place, and I know Luka. This should be fun."

Hoyt wasn't sure what bothered him most. The fact that she had squealed, or the fact that she had just admitted to knowing the most popular vamp in Boston and equated it with fun. Either way, he wasn't looking forward to tonight.

He parked the sedan at the station and got out of the car. He walked to his so called office, a larger cubicle in a far corner and grabbed his bottle of Motrin. He washed a handful down with some coffee resembling mud and started the paperwork that never ended. Long after he was a memory, Charlie would be preserved in paperwork that would never actually say anything.

He glanced across the desk and settled his eyes on Tessa. She'd taken off her uniform and stood in the pantry making a coffee. Her hair was pulled up in a pony tale and her face clean. She looked like a kid. But from the neck down, that image changed drastically. She was wearing tight jeans that looked painted on and a basic black tank. Her arms were muscular but not bulky. Her skin sun kissed and glowed with youth and the naive belief that she could take on the world and win.

Hoyt felt his body temperature increase as he pictured her training, sweaty and red faced being pummeled by Harris. When he started in the Vampire Crime Unit it was top secret hush hush, protect the unaware public and all that jazz, but no one had ever kicked his ass more than Harris. A bonafide mercenary who stated "If you survive me, your likely to survive a vamp."

Hoyt imagined Tessa with that wack job and stood conflicted between protective and turned on. His mind lashed out: Great, just what I need, something to hold me back and lose my focus. This should be interesting.

Tessa was staring back from across the room. He slammed the computer shut and left the office. He needed to change his clothes and hit the gym for a few minutes before they met. He definitely needed to get his shit together. Walking into Luka's place of business was hazardous to your health. Being alert and on task was a priority.

As he got into his own car, he found himself taking an inventory of his clothing. "Shit, so not what I needed." Maybe he would skip the gym and spend some time in the shower before tonight. Apparently his two year dry spell was over. And right in the middle of a vamp rampage, how convenient.

He continued to chastise his brain, and other thinking members of his body, all the way home. Maybe he could enforce an off hour dress code. Yeah, that would happen.

Hoyt walked into his tiny dim apartment and opened the fridge. It held a bottle of V8 juice, lemons, and a dozen eggs that were long past their date. Yep, he thought to himself, I've really carved a life out here.

He closed the refrigerator and walked into the bathroom. Turned on the water, and adjusted it to cold. It was going to be a long night.